Trendy Relish

Soy Bean Fritters (Soya Vadalu)

2012-01-22T20:17:00.000-08:00

This is another delicacy I made during Sankranthi. These turned out so delicious and everyone at our home enjoyed them so much.

Ingredients:

4 cups Soy Beans
½ cup Rice Flour (optional)
¼ cup grated Coconut (fresh or frozen)
1 small Onion, chopped fine
Few green Chilies, chopped fine
½ tsp Cumin Seeds
A small piece of Ginger, peeled
Salt
Oil to deep fry

Preparation:

Wash and soak soy beans in plenty of water overnight.

Then grind the beans into a fine paste along with coconut + ginger. Add little water if needed.

The batter should be thick. If it becomes thin add rice flour (mine became little watery, so I added rice flour to the batter) and mix well. It is completely optional.

Then add onion + green chilies + cumin seeds + salt to the prepared batter and mix well.

Pour oil in a deep skillet and heat. Take small batches of the batter, shape into a thin circle and drop carefully into the hot oil.

Deep fry them until they turn golden brown in color. Then remove the vadalu from oil and place on a paper towel to remove excess oil.

Repeat the same process with the remaining batter.

Great tasting Soy Bean Fritters (Vadalu) are ready to be eaten!! Enjoy these delicious vadalu with desired dip/chutney.

Sweet Rava Pongali

2012-01-17T23:29:00.000-08:00

I made this yummy sweet pongali for this Sankranthi. I also made Soya Bean Vadalu which I will share in my next post.

Ingredients:

1 cup Semolina (Upma Rava)
½ cup Moong Dal (పెసరపప్పు)
2 cups Milk
1 cup Water
1 ½ cups Sugar
1 tsp Ghee
Few Cashews, Raisins and Cardamom

Preparation:

Wash and pressure cook moong dal until cooked.

Meanwhile dry roast semolina until it turns golden brown in color. Keep aside.

Heat ghee and add cashews + raisins and sauté well. Also add cardamom and mix well.

Then pour milk + water and bring to a boil. Before it comes to a boil add sugar and mix well.

When the milk boils add moong dal, mix well and finally add semolina. Add it slowly and mix well so that no lumps are formed.

Keep the flame on low and allow the semolina mixture becomes thick and cooked.

That’s all! Great tasting Rava Pongali is ready!!

Happy Birthday to Trendy Relish!!!

2012-01-16T01:31:00.000-08:00

Pongal Recipes - Happy Pongal 2012

2012-01-13T15:58:00.000-08:00

Here are some festival recipe ideas for this Pongal. Click on the link below to see the recipes. Hope you have a blast !!

Festival Recipes - For Sankranthi

I will be back with my new recipes for this Sankranthi. Enjoy the festival with full gusto. Happy Pongal.

Spinach Chutney (Palakoora Pachadi)

2012-01-09T02:59:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped Spinach (పాలకూర)
1 tbsp Coriander Seeds (ధనియాలు)
4 or 5 dry Red Chilies (can be replaced with green Chilies)
Tamarind (gooseberry sized)
½ tsp Cumin Seeds
A handful of Cilantro (optional)
A pinch of Asafetida (ఇంగువ, Hing)
2 tsp Oil
Salt

Preparation:

Soak tamarind in very little amount of water and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds + coriander seeds + red chilies, sauté well. Remove from the pan and transfer to a plate.

Add spinach to the same pan and sauté until spinach becomes soft. Remove and transfer to the plate. Keep aside to cool.

When all the ingredients cool down, grind them to a smooth paste by adding the soaked tamarind + cilantro + hing and salt as needed. Add very little water if needed.

That’s all! Great tasting spinach pachadi is ready to be eaten. This pachadi goes well with rice.

Nutella Fruit Shake

2012-01-02T12:36:00.000-08:00

Hope you all had a wonderful New Year Day! Thank you friends, for your sweet wishes and I wish you all a Happy New Year 2012!

Coming to the recipe, adding Nutella to fruits and milk turned them into a delicious chocolate flavored shake.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp Nutella
1 cup Watermelon pieces
1 cup Pomegranate Seeds
1 ripe Banana
2 cups Milk

Preparation:

Add all the fruits to a blender jar and blend until smooth. Then add nutella + milk and run the blender until the mixture becomes smooth.

Filter to remove the pulp from pomegranate seeds and pour into glasses. Enjoy this delicious, healthy shake with breakfast or any time of the day.

On a Different Note:

Thank you Anu for passing me a wonderful "Happy Blogger Award". It made me feel so happy on this New Year Day! Thanks again!!

A Very Happy New Year 2012

2011-12-31T23:20:00.000-08:00

Colorful Chapathis for Christmas

2011-12-21T14:00:00.000-08:00

These are delicious and colorful chapathis perfect for the Christmas.

Recipe Source: Soujanya

Ingredients:

For Red Chapathis:

2 cups Wheat Flour
2 red Bell Peppers
1 tsp Olive Oil
Salt to taste

For Green Chapathis:

2 cups Wheat Flour
Spinach Puree as required
1 tsp Olive Oil
Salt to taste

Preparation:

Red Chapathis:

Mix wheat flour, olive oil and salt. Make puree of red bell peppers and add it to the wheat flour mixture. Add water if necessary to make nice and smooth chapati dough. Let it stand for an hour. Divide into lime size balls and roll out the chapatis. Shallow fry them on a pan.

Green Chapathis:

Add spinach puree instead of bell peppers and follow the above recipe.

This recipe is reaching "Let's Cook For Christmas, Red and Green" event, hosted by Simply.Food. Thanks for the invitation Simply.Food!

Almond Chutney

2011-12-13T13:16:00.000-08:00

This is a delicious chutney prepared using whole almonds and tastes just like Peanut Chutney. Whenever I have these almonds at home, I prepare this yummy chutney to go with idlis or dosas.

Ingredients:

1 cup Whole Almonds
2 tsp fresh or dry Coconut, grated
4 or 5 dry Red Chilies (or as needed)
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1 tsp Lemon Juice (can be replaced with tamarind)
Salt

Preparation:

Dry roast almonds + red chilies and allow them to cool for some time.

Later add these almonds + red chilies to a grinder along with coconut + cumin seeds + lemon juice + salt, pour little amount of water and grind into a smooth paste.

That’s all!! Great tasting chutney is ready to be eaten with idlis or dosas or even white rice. Yummy!!

Sweet and Spicy Apple Curry

2011-12-06T15:41:00.000-08:00

A little sweet, a little spicy – this curry felt so good to the tastebuds. At first I was little skeptical about making this curry, but DH encouraged me to do it. I was really surprised at the yummy taste it got. We loved it as a side dish with chapathis.

Ingredients:

4 Apples (I used Gala Apples)
1 small Onion
2 Tomatoes
1 tsp Red Chili Powder
½ tsp Garam Masala
1 or 2 tsp Lemon Juice
1 tsp Oil
½ tsp Cumin Seeds
A pinch of Turmeric Powder
A handful of Cilantro
Salt

Preparation:

Peel, core and cut apples into cubes. Chop onion + tomatoes into tiny pieces.

Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds + apples + onion + tomatoes and mix well.

Add red chili powder + garam masala + turmeric powder + lemon juice and mix well.

Pour little amount of water to cook apples. Add salt and mix well.

Cover and leave the pan on medium flame for some time until most of the water gets absorbed and apples become tender.

Finally stir the contents well, garnish with cilantro and serve with chapathis.

Tastes so yummy when hot.

Kobbari Perugu Pachadi (Coconut in Yogurt)

2011-11-28T02:00:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

Freshly grated Coconut – 1 cup
Plain Yogurt – 1 cup
3 or 4 Green Chilies
A handful of Cilantro (కొత్తిమీర)
Turmeric Powder (optional)
Salt as needed

For Seasoning:

1 tsp Oil
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
½ tsp Cumin Seeds
½ tsp Black Gram (మినప్పప్పు, Urad Dal)
½ tsp Bengal Gram (పచ్చి సెనగపప్పు, Chana Dal)
Few Curry Leaves

Preparation:

Fry green chilies in little oil. Cut coconut into small pieces. Then grind coconut pieces + green chilies into a fine paste. Keep aside.

Add salt + turmeric (if using) to yogurt and mix well. Also add the coconut mixture to yogurt and mix well.

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When they pop, add cumin seeds + black gram + Bengal gram and sauté well. Also add curry leaves and fry well.

Pour this seasoning on top of the yogurt mixture and mix well.

Finally garnish with cilantro and enjoy the yummy kobbari perugu pachadi. This goes well with rice as well as chapathis.

Beerakaaya Thokku Pachadi (Chutney with Ridge Gourd Peels)

2011-11-20T12:04:00.000-08:00

This is another yummy pachadi prepared by DH recently. It tasted so good and is so easy to prepare with simple ingredients.

Ingredients:

2 cups Ridge Gourd Peels (బీరకాయ తొక్కు)
1 small Onion, chopped
2 Tomatoes, chopped
6 or 7 (or as desired) Green Chilies, chopped
1 tsp Black Gram (మినప్పప్పు, Urad Dal)
2 tbsp Coriander Seeds (ధనియాలు)
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
½ tsp Cumin Seeds
1 tsp Tamarind Pulp
A pinch of Turmeric Powder
A pinch of Asafetida (ఇంగువ, Hing)
1 tsp Oil
Salt

Preparation:

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When they pop, add cumin seeds + black gram + coriander seeds and sauté well.

Then add ridge gourd peels + tomatoes + onions + green chilies, mix well and sauté.

Add tamarind pulp + turmeric powder + asafetida and stir well.

Keep the contents on medium flame for some time just until the veggies become little soft and then turn the flame off.

Allow the contents to cool down for some time and grind into a smooth paste adding salt and water (very little) as needed.

Enjoy this great smelling and great tasting pachadi with rice as well as chapathis.

Quinoa Pongal

2011-11-13T21:37:00.000-08:00

These days I’ve been trying to cook different dishes with Quinoa, a healthy grain. Recently I tried making pongal by substituting rice with quinoa and it turned out so yummy.

Ingredients:

1 cup Quinoa
1 cup Moong Dal (పెసరపప్పు)
1 tsp Black Pepper Powder (can be replaced with peppercorns)
4 or 5 Green Chilies, chopped
1 Tomato, chopped
5 cups Water (4 + 1 extra)
Salt as needed

For Seasoning/Tempering:

1 tbsp Oil
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
½ tsp Cumin Seeds
Few Curry Leaves
Few Cashews
1 Red Chili

Preparation:

Wash quinoa + moong dal well and mix together. Place them in a bowl, add green chilies + black pepper powder + tomato + salt and pour water. Mix well with a spatula.

Cover and place this bowl in a pressure cooker and cook for 3 whistles. Turn off the flame allow all the pressure go away.

Later, heat oil in a small pan and add mustard seeds. When they pop, add cumin seeds + red chili + curry leaves + cashews and sauté well until cashews turn into golden brown in color.

Pour this seasoning on top of the cooked pongal and mix well. Enjoy the steaming hot pongal with desired chutney. Yummy and healthy!!

I am linking this post to Kavi's Healthy Cooking Challenge - Healthy Lunch, an event initially started by Smitha.

On a different note:

Kalyani of Kalyani’s Platter passed me some cute awards last week, but I forgot to mention it in my previous post. Thank you for sharing the awards Kalyani! So nice of you :)

Cluster Beans with Moong Dal

2011-11-07T11:19:00.000-08:00

This is another simple recipe with very little ingredients.

Ingredients:

2 cups diced Cluster Beans (గోరు చిక్కుడు కాయలు )
½ cup Moong Dal (can be reduced to ¼ cup) (పెసర పప్పు)
½ tsp Red Chili Powder (can be adjusted according to taste)
A pinch of Turmeric Powder
Few Curry Leaves
1 tsp Oil
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
½ tsp Cumin Seeds
Salt

Preparation:

Wash and soak moong dal for an hour.

Place cluster beans in a microwave safe bowl, add a little water, cover and microwave for 10 minutes.

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When they pop, add cumin seeds + curry leaves and sauté well.

Then add the cluster beans + turmeric powder + moong dal and mix well. Add little amount of water so that moong dal cooks well. Also add salt and mix well.

Cover and leave the pan for some time until all the water gets absorbed and the curry becomes dry.

Check for doneness and turn the flame off. Transfer the curry to a serving bowl and enjoy with steaming hot rice and rasam. Yummy!!

Healthy Ridge Gourd – Carrot Juice

2011-11-03T13:40:00.000-07:00

I always make some kind of juice or milkshake during weekends with breakfast. This is one of such healthy juices I made recently. I feel happy when my family gives me thumbs up for my preparations and I should say they liked this vegetable juice so much and said it was so yummy!!!

Ingredients: (Serves 2)

1 cup Ridge Gourd Pieces (బీరకాయ)
½ cup Carrot Pieces
1 cup Orange Juice
1 cup Apple Juice

Preparation:

Peel, wash and cut ridge gourd + carrot into medium sized pieces.

Add these pieces to a blender, pour orange + apple juices on top and run the blender until the pieces are ground.

Filter to remove the pulp (optional) and pour into different glasses.

Enjoy this energetic and healthy juice with desired breakfast. Yummy!!

Morkali - In Memory of Jayasree

2011-10-31T17:15:00.000-07:00

It was really a great shock to me when I read the news about a dear friend's sudden demise. I couldn't believe my eyes/ears, but that was the fact. I was reading blogs after quite a while, and found about this through fellow blogger's tributes to her. I felt so sad for losing a dear friend. I came to know Jayasree through blogger world she was so kind enough to post her sweet encouraging comments on my blog whenever I make a new post. And also whenever I change my blog header or template she was so sweet enough to notice the change and give her compliments or opinions. Even though I haven't known or met her personally, she became a good friend of mine through blogging. I really miss her in the blogger world.

I made her Morkali recipe as a Tribute to her. Do visit her blog - Experiments in Kailas Kitchen and join in the tribute.

Recipe Link: http://kailaskitchen.blogspot.com/2008/01/morkalikoozhu.html

R.I.P Jayasree!! My heartfelt condolences to her family!!

Quinoa – Coconut Payasam

2011-10-27T22:33:00.000-07:00

Hope you all had a wonderful Deepavali. We had a good one too. I made this yummy and healthy payasam on Diwali day. Tasted super delicious and was a hit at our house.

Ingredients:

½ cup Quinoa
½ cup grated Coconut (fresh or frozen)
6 cups Milk
2 cups Sugar
1 tsp Ghee
Few Cardamom seeds, Cashews, Raisins

Preparation:

Wash quinoa well, add 1 cup of water and pressure cook for 3 whistles.

Meanwhile, bring milk to a boil. Add sugar mix well until it melts in the milk. Add cardamom seeds and mix well.

Finally add coconut + cooked quinoa mix well and keep the contents on medium low flame for some time.

When the milk seems to boil again, turn off the flame.

Heat ghee in a small pan, add cashews + raisins and sauté well.

Pour this on top of the prepared payasam and mix well.

Enjoy this delicious payasam and feel happy :)

Happy Deepavali 2011

2011-10-25T22:39:00.000-07:00

Brown Rice – Wheat Dosa

2011-10-19T14:57:00.000-07:00

This is a very simple, yummy and instant dosa variety with brown rice.

I previously posted 4 other versions of brown rice dosas. These dosa recipes can be found at the following links.

Brown Rice Dosa – Version 1

Brown Rice Dosa – Version 2

Brown Rice – Quinoa Dosa
Soy Beans - Brown Rice Dosa

Let’s see today’s recipe:

Ingredients:

2 cups Brown Rice
1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
Some Chili Powder for spiciness (I didn’t add though)
Salt
Oil to pour around dosas (optional)

Preparation:

Dry roast brown rice in a pan until it turns golden brown in color. Keep aside for some time until it becomes little cold.

Then add this rice to a blender and grind into a fine powder (a little coarse texture is OK).

Mix powdered brown rice with wheat flour + cumin seeds. Add salt and some water and mix well to make a smooth batter. The batter should be thin so that it can be poured easily on the pan.

Heat a non-stick pan and pour a ladleful of dosa batter along the edge in a circular fashion. Then quickly fill in the circle with some more batter to make a big circular dosa.

Pour oil around the dosa if desired and allow it to cook for some time. Loosen the edges of dosa with a spatula and flip the dosa to allow cooking on the other side.

When dosa is done, remove it from the pan and place on a serving plate. Repeat the same process for as many dosas as you want.

Enjoy these healthy and yummy dosas with desired chutney. Keep in mind that these dosas taste so better when hot.

100 Yummy Sweets & Desserts Recipes for Diwali - An E-book

2011-10-16T17:29:00.000-07:00

IndusLadies has compiled an eBook for this Diwali consisting of "100 Yummy Sweets & Desserts recipes", contributed by various Food Bloggers! Go ahead and download it @ http://www.indusladies.com/100diwalisweet.

I am really happy to say that my COCONUT HALWA recipe got featured in the eBook!!

Eggplant – Tomato Curry in Cilantro – Onion Sauce

2011-10-11T16:47:00.000-07:00

This is a delicious combination of eggplants and tomatoes cooked in the luscious onion-cilantro sauce. This is a very simple and quick curry to prepare and it makes a great side dish for both rice and chapathis.

Ingredients:

3 Eggplants (I used Japanese Eggplants), chopped into small pieces
4 Tomatoes, chopped
1 small Onion, cut into pieces
A bunch of Cilantro
3 or 4 Green Chilies
Few Curry Leaves
A pinch of Turmeric Powder
1 tbsp Oil
Salt

For Seasoning/Tempering:

½ tsp Mustard Seeds
¼ tsp Cumin Seeds
½ tsp Black Gram Dal
½ tsp Bengal Gram

Preparation:

Combine onions with cilantro + green chilies and grind into a soft paste by adding a little amount of water. Keep Aside.

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When they pop, add cumin seeds + urad dal + chana dal + curry leaves and sauté well.

Later add eggplant + tomatoes and mix well. Add the onion paste to this and mix well. Also add turmeric and stir well.

Add salt, mix well, cover the pan and leave it on med. low flame for some time. Keep stirring in between.

When the vegetables appear to be cooked and become soft and all the water gets absorbed, turn off the flame and transfer the curry to a serving bowl.

Enjoy this delicious curry with rice or chapathis. Yummy!!

Sago Fritters (Saggubiyyam Vadalu)

2011-10-02T22:47:00.000-07:00

I prepared these on Vinayaka Chavithi. Everyone enjoyed the tastiness of these mouth-watering vadas.

Ingredients:

1 cup Sago (సగ్గుబియ్యం)
2 cups raw Peanuts (వేరుసెనగపప్పు)
2 Potatoes
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
2 tsp red Chili Powder (Optional) (Can be replaced with green chilies)
Salt as needed
Oil to deep fry

Preparation:

Wash sago well and soak for an hour or until it becomes soft.

Powder the peanuts coarsely. Keep aside.

Boil potatoes, peel and mash well.

Now mix sago + powdered peanuts + mashed potato together. Add cumin seeds +chili powder + salt, mix well to form thick dough.

Pour oil into a deep skillet and heat. When the oil becomes hot, take small batches of the dough, shape into a small circle and drop carefully into the oil.

When they turn golden brown in color, remove from oil and spread on a paper towel to drain excess oil.

Repeat the same process with the remaining dough/batter.

Enjoy these great tasting vadas any time of the day. Yummy!

Apple Kheer

2011-09-19T02:30:00.000-07:00

This is a delicious kheer that I prepared on Vinayaka Chavithi Day. This is a simple yet mouth-watering kheer recipe.

Ingredients:

1 Apple (I used Gala Apple)
4 cups Milk
1 cup Sugar (or depending on individual taste)
½ cup Vermicelli (సేమ్యా)
1 tsp Ghee
Few Cashews and Raisins
Few Cardamom Seeds

Preparation:

Roast vermicelli until it turns golden brown in color and keep aside.

Peel and grate the apple. Keep aside.

Bring milk to a boil, add sugar + cardamom and mix well. Then add roasted vermicelli and mix well.

When the vermicelli becomes soft, add grated apple and mix well. Then turn the flame off.

In a pan, heat ghee and add cashews + raisins and sauté well. Pour this on top of the kheer and mix well.

Enjoy this wholesome and mouth-watering kheer either at room temperature or chilled.

Urad Dal Chutney (Minapa Pachadi)

2011-09-13T23:12:00.000-07:00

This is another simple but great tasting pachadi recipe that we usually make at home.

Ingredients:

½ cup Urad Dal (మినప్పప్పు)
5 or 6 dry Red Chilies (can be adjusted more or less) (can be replaced with green chilies)
A pinch of Asafetida (Hing, ఇంగువ)
1 tsp Oil
A small piece of Tamarind (about the size of a Cranberry)
Salt

For Tempering: (Optional)

1 tsp Oil
½ tsp Mustard Seeds
¼ tsp Cumin Seeds
Few Curry Leaves

Preparation:

Heat oil in a pan and add urad dal. Sauté until the dal turns light brown in color. Then transfer to a plate to cool.

In the same pan add red chilies and sauté well. Keep aside.

When the dal becomes cool, combine it with red chilies + tamarind + asafetida + salt and grind into a soft paste by adding little amount of water.

Transfer to a bowl and keep aside.

Now it’s time to do tempering. Heat oil in pan and add mustard seeds. When they pop add cumin seeds + curry leaves and sauté well.

Pour this on top of the prepared pachadi, stir well and enjoy the great tasting pachadi with steaming hot rice and a dollop of ghee. Yummy!!

Brown Rice Undrallu – Vinayaka Chavithi Special

2011-09-05T12:32:00.000-07:00

As we all know, undrallu and kudumulu are the most favorite treats for Lord Vinayaka. I always make these treats for every Vinayaka Chavithi day. I usually make undrallu with white rice, but this time I wanted to make these using brown rice and they were as delicious as the white rice undrallu.

Ingredients:

1 cup Brown Rice
¼ cup Bengal Gram (పచ్చి సెనగపప్పు, Chana Dal)
½ tsp Cumin Seeds
2 cups Water
1 tsp Ghee
Salt

Preparation:

Wash and soak brown rice for an hour. Then spread it loosely on a newspaper until it dries. Then grind it without adding any water until it attains coarse texture (like Rava). Keep aside.

Wash and soak chana dal for about 30 minutes.

Later heat ghee in a pan, add cumin seeds and chana dal and sauté well for a little time.

Now pour water, add salt and bring it to a boil. Then add the ground rice slowly and stir well so that no lumps are formed.

When all the water is absorbed and the contents become thick just like upma, turn off the flame and allow the contents to cool down a bit.

Finally take small batches of the mixture and form into balls of any size. Now great tasting undrallu are ready!!

Offer these yummy and healthy undrallu to Lord Vinayaka and make him happy :)